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subscribe to style file blog via RSSblasblog: a farewell to moscow
September 18, 2008 6:26 pm
The livers of the New York and European social and art set can breathe a sigh of relief, so to speak. After last night’s Gagosian Gallery show and dinner, the jet set’s residency at the Moscow Ritz has officially expired, and with it their foray into Russian-style wining and dining. (Although I do know of more than one early-morning plea for an additional recovery night at the hotel, and the last-minute reworking of private-jet schedules to leave a day later.) But what a finale—the evening began with Aaron Young’s motorcycle show outside the Red October Chocolate Factory, followed by the fancy-pants dinner, and then, just to top things off, Larry Gagosian’s official after-party at local disco Soho Rooms. While the spreads of sushi were impressive, I have to say that by the end of the evening something truly shocking and unexpected happened: The bar ran out of vodka. (”When in Moscow…” Stavros Niarchos explained.) But the end of the clear liquid did nothing to dampen the party: The trio of Olympia Scarry, Dasha Zhukova, and Eugenie Niarchos continued to hold court on the second-level balcony of the club, which overlooked the dance floor where Aaron Young, Adam McEwen, Yvonne Force Villareal (still in her Marc Jacobs fur), and Jessica Craig-Martin were cavorting. Opposite them sat Natalia Vodianova, who was chatting with a table full of Russian men and her husband, Justin Portman. Barbara Bush and Amy Greenspon debated if they should venture from the bar toward the heaving masses of artists and fellow collectors, and were finally convinced when Alex de Betak and Charlotte Sarkozy dragged them onto the dance floor. “Such hedonism!” exclaimed the actress Leelee Sobieski, who brought her father as her date to the dinner earlier in the evening. “I’ve been here shooting a movie for the past month, and discovered that Moscow can get wild, but this isn’t typical.” I was later told that there are usually strippers at the club, but Gagosian nixed them to keep things classy. However, I feel it my journalistic duty to report that some of the revelers did find their ways to Bourdeaux and Egoiste, which are purported to be Moscow’s best gentlemen’s clubs. (On this I cannot attest nor deny, as it’s not really my field.)
tags: Amy Greenspon, Dasha Zhukova, Natalia Vodianova, Olympia Scarry, Yvonne Force Villareal
